I was not worried about this as I had about 200m of backing and the sandbank was only 100m away. It was what she was going to do when she got there that really worried me. After 50m, she turned and came swimming back towards the deck and I was forced to do some rapid reeling to keep tension.

I also knew that if she got her head under the restaurant, there was a good chance that she would find the anchor ropes. As the fish came closer, I applied as much pressure as I could which with a nine foot flyrod and a fish directly beneath you, is not as much as you might think.

The technique paid off and the fish changed her mind and came to the surface. It was only now that we got a really good look at her and the logistics of our situation became apparent. We did not fish with a gaff and the only net we had managed to find was one of those suitable for netting small trout. We had after all become accustomed to catching fish that would usually fit through the mesh of the net! Having seen the teeth on a kob this size, no one was really too keen to try grip it by the lip.

Fortunately, the deck at the sandbar was only a few centimetres above the water and with the kob quite tired out by this time, I was able to get her close enough for my good mate to get the net over her head while he supported her body with his other hand and lifted her onto the deck.